The beginning of this year witnessed the much-awaited re-launch of Ethio-jazz father Hailu Mergia in the contemporary world jazz scenario. With the Awesome Tapes from Africa release Lala Belu, master keyboardist and accordionist Mergia conquered the stages of the most attended jazz festivals in Europe and USA during last summer...
Tag Archives: Eastern Africa
London welcomes the legendary Dur-Dur Band to one of its more intimate East London venues in mid-September; a show that could have taken place at The Jazz Café, Rich Mix or any of the bigger venues that dominate London’s global music scene, will be taking place at Redon, a small...
With a nomadic upbringing and a yearning to speak her own truth, Meklit is an empowered songstress making big noise in the modern world of Ethio-jazz. Combining East Coast African jazz with her own brand of danceable soul, the end result is a dynamic mix of energy and courage in...
Preview of the album: Only available until 03rd September 2018
On Thursday the 22nd of March, Mulatu Astatke, widely known as the ‘father’ of Ethio-jazz, comes to the Barbican for a solo show alongside guests Fatima & Eglo Live Band, Ruby Rushton and Seb Rochford (Polar Bear). Whilst credited with inventing the genre of Ethio-jazz, it has still taken over...
![Album Review: Hailu Mergia – Lala Belu [Awesome Tapes from Africa, February 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/hailu-mergia-lala-335x335.jpg)
January and February are the times when we reconsider last year’s resolutions a bit more seriously. For master keyboard player and living legend Hailu Mergia, 2018 is his year. February is the time for a heartfelt resolution to happen worldwide, and after 15 years since his last release, everyone is...
Two intriguing new realities enriching the London’s music scene will please the Rich Mix audience on the 24th of November. Hejira and Susso will stage an exciting double-bill bringing to Shoreditch their musical interpretation of East and West African tradition. After a journey to Ethiopia, South-East Londoners Hejira fell in...
This year, we only got a glimpse of the music bonanza offered by the Womad UK weekend. Our stay in Malmesbury consisted of a hit-and-run or a ‘toccata-and-fugue’, in-keeping with the musical topic, and saw us pay a visit to Charlton Park on the last day of the event. Still,...
Awesome Tapes from Africa’s Brian Shimkovitz has done a brilliant job over the past seven years or so of bringing new life to legendary artists whose genre-shifting music has often been lost in the sea of modern sounds. One of these prolific musicians is Ethiopian Hailu Mergia, the keyboard and accordion...
![Album Review: Arat Kilo – Nouvelle Fleur [Eklektik, 27th May 2016]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/003d9262-335x335.jpeg)
If you’ve never listened to ethio-jazz, a genre very popular in the bars and hotels of Addis Ababa during the 1960s and ’70s, Arat Kilo’s new album Nouvelle Fleur could be the perfect introduction. The Parisian band, whose name comes from a famous monument in the Ethiopian capital, brought into...